When the Bucs drafted Arizona State operating again Rachaad White within the third spherical of this 12 months’s draft, it appeared straightforward to pick a task for him in his rookie 12 months.
Particular groups contributor? Third-down pass-catching specialist? Change-of-pace No. 3 again? Potential dwelling run-threat behind the group’s high two backs? The entire above?
White seems to be the kind of participant who would possibly match effectively into any of these roles as a rookie. Nevertheless, he made it clear final week that he isn’t coming to Tampa Bay to easily settle for a backup position and be proud of it. He desires to compete for Leonard Fournette’s beginning job.
“What I’m wanting ahead to [with] the Buccaneers is I do know they’re gonna put me in a terrific state of affairs, a terrific spot,” White stated in an interview on The Jim Rome Present. “My expectation, my purpose is I’m getting into there and competing. I wish to be the beginning operating again.”
Bucs Have Crowded Backfield
The Bucs got here into the offseason with query marks of their backfield. Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones II and Giovani Bernard have been all free brokers. When Tom Brady retired, the group was presumably set to begin recent on the operating again place, perhaps with Ke’Shawn Vaughn, a rookie and a veteran within the combine.
However then, Brady got here again. That led to Tampa Bay shelling out a three-year, $21 million contract for Fournette. The group later introduced Bernard again on a one-year deal as effectively.
Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
On condition that Fournette simply obtained that sort of contract, White beating him out for the highest spot on the depth chart may be an extended shot.
White is effectively conscious of who else is within the combine, after all. Within the interview with Rome, he went on to say he seems ahead to studying from the veterans he’ll now name teammates, even when his major purpose is to beat them out for snaps.
“I do know I obtained Lenny in entrance of me. I’m gonna take in a number of information from Lenny in that operating again room [and] Giovani Bernard,” he stated. “That’s simply the kind of man I’m. However I’m all the time a competitor first.”
White’s pass-catching talents are going to be key in him getting on the sector as a rookie. And in in the present day’s NFL, the operating again place is commonly about who’s scorching. The Bucs weren’t afraid to trip the recent hand in 2020 when Fournette and Jones have been splitting carries. Fournette later gained the beginning job outright final 12 months.
As White works to show he can carry the load as a three-down again, he‘s already carrying the proper mentality.
“I’m simply doing my job, no matter my coaches want me to do, no matter Tom [Brady] wants me to do,” he stated. “I’m simply there to do my job and, like I stated, be the most effective participant I can probably be [and] be the neatest participant [I can be].”
You may take heed to the whole White interview on The Jim Rome Present beneath:
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings